summer highlights.

I haven't blogged my summer at all, so here are some highlights from this summer! As told by my phone's camera roll - no photo, no memory of it! Jk. But I am a lazy photographer.

Got a new Magic Bullet at home, and my family loves it. Having a ball making our first smoothies together, hahaha.

Tried the new ramen place in Chinatown (Ginza) and it's really really yummy.

Click through for more photos!

family, a wedding and lots of excitement.

Last weekend my cousin Jolene got married!!! Since Jolene is the oldest of my cousins, this was the first wedding I had been to since I was about 6. I was a little excited.. just a bit. It didn't help that one of my favourite wedding photographers and bloggers Joee Wong was their wedding photographer..!! (I mentioned him in an earlier blog post, did you catch my excitement the first time around?)

It was nice to see so much of my family together again. Most of my cousins and aunts and uncles are in Vancouver, with my family and Jolene's families being the exceptions, so it was really neat to see everyone together in Ontario!

My aunts, uncles, cousins and immediate family.

The wedding was beautiful! Though it was windy and therefore quite chilly, it was beautiful to see Jolene and Wilton get married outside- the early evening light was amazing too. They were very lucky with the weather as it had been raining all weekend, but it really cleared up for them!

Uncle Bobby walking Jolene down the aisle.

A few months ago, Jolene asked me if I could help out with their tea ceremony. At the time, I had no idea what it was as I had never seen one before. I learned quickly that it's a ceremony where the bride and groom offer their elders tea as a sign of respect, and their elders offer them lucky red pocket money as a blessing for their marriage. My part in all of this was to bring the tea to the couple. One of Jolene's bridesmaids poured the tea and I went back and forth with the tea tray. After the tea ceremony, my arms got quite shaky from holding the tray for so long. Funny story: we got candy in cute little candy jars as wedding favours, and when I opened mine, my arms were so shaky that I spilled candy all over the place. Embarrassing.

Jolene and Wilton offering Uncle Bobby tea.

Jolene and Wilton are both such sweet and kind people. This summer, over a few trips to Toronto, it has been really great seeing the two of them together. They are so caring towards others and so easy to talk to! I can't wait to see them build a life together! (Cheesy, but true, I promise!) Also, as a plus, Wilton was the first person to understand what it is that I am studying, before I explained it. He studied something similar in university (except at Western, pfft).

They made their entrance to Gangnam Style.. haha! They sure know how to have fun!

I was super excited when I first spotted their photographer, Joee. I wanted to say hi, but I didn't know what to say! "Hi... I'm a huge fan... *awkward smile*" I waited until after the tea ceremony.. but still said just that. Though I felt super awkward, Joee was super nice and gave me a hug, and asked if I was from Ottawa.. he totally remembered me (Jolene had mentioned me to him, haha!)! We had a nice chat and he said he wanted to get a photo with me before the end of the night. (What I hope I sounded like: "Yeah, that'd be awesome!" What I probably sounded like: "OHMYGOSHREALLYOKAY!!!!")

I watched him work a little throughout the wedding, but it was amazing how he blended into the background so seamlessly. Even for someone like me who wanted to watch him work, I forgot he was even there lots of the time. I happened to be sitting next to the projector (seriously, how did that happen?) when he put up a surprise Same Day Edit slideshow for the newlyweds. It was a great sneak peak of his amazing photos. Anywho, by the end of the night, we took a photo together and I probably had the biggest, goofiest grin ever. I will definitely show you once I get a look at it.

Also, check this out:

My excitement level was through the roof!!!

And so, Jolene and Wilton are now married! Crazy, right? Also, I love this picture. They both look so goofily happy. How cute!

Congrats to the happy couple!

a happy weekend.

Oh, I love weekends! The joys of a Monday to Friday job.. I can actually enjoy my weekends as weekends. Throughout the school year I just sort of forget when weekends are. I seem to be working, studying, and whatever else 7 days of the week. It is so easy to get lost in the rhythm of constant work.

This past weekend was very relaxed, and enjoyable. On Saturday, I slept in and went to dim sum with my family. Then I played tennis with Jessica... which was kind of embarrassing. I don't think either one of us has played in a very long time. But it was fun! The courts were right next to our old elementary and middle schools, so we got a chance to reminisce on the play structure, and peer into the hallways. Have you ever gone back to an old school and realized how small and short everything is?! Then we joined Emily and her fellowship in the evening. It was nice to see some familiar faces, and to meet some new ones.

And yesterday, Sunday, was Mother's Day, so I spent the entire day with my mom. I'm still looking for a church in Ottawa where I feel comfortable. A church where I can learn, grow and serve. So together, we checked out the Met. It is a huuge church! But so far, I like the teaching there. My mom and I also went biking along the Ottawa river, and stopped for a frappuccino on the last day of Starbucks' Frap Happy Hour.

All in all, a very nice weekend.

happy thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

I hope your weekend is full of family, friends, turkey, and fun! The only thing in that list that doesn't start with an f is turkey. And it's also the only thing in that list that I am likely to not get.

Everyone has a different way of celebrating Thanksgiving, and turkey just isn't a big part of my family's thanksgiving celebrations. We have it.. sometimes. But mostly it just means family time and being together. Under the same roof anyway.. I'm back home in Ottawa for the long weekend, yay! We can only handle so much of each other though and we are already each sitting at our own computers, immersed into our own lives (gaming, watching videos, blogging ... guess which one is me!!?!). Our meals are always fun times though. We had Swiss Chalet for dinner today (close enough to turkey.. right?) and sushi and dim sum are planned for this weekend too. I can't wait!

I am so thankful for my family, for their love and for the yummy food they put in my belly. A break from my poor cooking skills is well needed.

How do you celebrate Thanksgiving, or do you? What are your plans for this long weekend? Lots of food? Turkey or no turkey? Do share!

vacation (part 2: cruise)

So I promised a post about the cruise I went on this summer.. but in all honesty I haven't really been looking forward to writing it. I've been putting it off forever, and I haven't even finished my own travel journal entry. To be honest, it wasn't that memorable of a cruise. I certainly enjoyed it, especially all the family time, especially the time I spent with my brother (for us to spend that much time together is pretty rare, and I love spending time with him.. I miss him!). I don't think any of that can be captured in words though. Lots of inside jokes, and poking fun at our family/the cruise staff/other cruisers. My brother and I had a great time. But anyway, a little excerpt from my journal describing the multitude of activities available to us:

"As for activities I did an ab workout (which absolutely killed me, I was still in pain about 4 days later), zumba, played scattergories with my cousin, watched a few movies, played trivia, participated in a reverse scavenger hunt (you had to go grab items from your room before you knew which items would give you points..!! I’m so taking this idea for later), watched a few comedy shows and of course ate a lot of food.

The comedy show starring Max Amini was my favourite. He interacted with the audience a lot and he seemed really spontaneous. I sat in the front row with my brother, and talked to us. It was great.

I watched a ton of movies on board too (Lincoln Lawyer, Just Go With It, part of Gnomeo and Juliet.. and if there were more, they weren't memorable, haha!) My bro and I just seem to take each afternoon to relax and watch movies together. I tried some trivia and scavenger hunt-like activities, but they are definitely aimed towards older people so it wasn't nearly as exciting as I had anticipated."

I also got a manicure on board as a birthday present. But to be honest, it wasn't very good. It was a very nice manicure, but I don't think it is worth paying for someone to file, shape, and paint your nails. I could have done all of that myself. The only part that would have been worth paying for was the mini-massage, and the oils and stuff she used on my hands and arms. Sooooo in the future, if I go to a spa, I will get a massage, not a manicure.

The ship was huge and beautiful, but I have been on a Princess ship before, and let me assure you, it looked exactly the same. Which in a way was good because I already had a vague idea of where everything was. There was just less adventure for me, knowing what the ship offered. The food was sub par, except for the lobster and jumbo prawns. They were the most delicious thing I had ever had. Yummm! I'm no good at describing food, but I sure know how to enjoy it. Our waiter also serenaded me for my birthday, it was soo funny, I loved it. (There is also just a very humourous picture of one of my brother's desserts, it looked like a smiley face, hahaha!)

We also got to dress up for 2 formal nights, and took many many studio portraits. My favourite part (my brother's least favourite part). Funny story, we actually won our photos in a draw! They had this promotion where you had to take portraits at at least 4 different settings (there was no sitting fee, so you just have to line up for quite a bit). Once you had the signature from your 4 different photographers, you were entered into a draw to win $200 worth of photo merchandise. And we won! So we got our photos for free! Good deal, eh?

PS. My favourite part of any cruise is always the ship itself. I didn't write about the ports because they were each very similar, in that we simply got off, shopped at markets, and enjoyed some fresh air before returning to the ship. New England is beautiful, but honestly if you want to experience a certain place, don't cruise there. But as an FYI, our ship stopped in Halifax, Saint John, Bar Harbour, Boston, and Newport.

There you have it, a very late post about my cruise this summer. I miss summer already, boy did it ever fly by!

canucks fever!

This past weekend I got to see a lot of my Vancouver family. It was pretty great, although the circumstances that brought us all together could have been better.. we were all in Toronto for my aunt's funeral. She is in a much better place now though, and no longer has to suffer the pain of her cancer.

It was really really great to see everyone again (or at least my aunts and uncles- the cousins all stayed in Vancouver). We all watched the hockey game on Saturday together. Vancouver Canucks against Boston Bruins, Stanley Cup Finals, game 2!!! My aunts are all such biiig fans. It was hilarious, in a way- watching some of them sit on the floor, inching forward, sitting on their feet/knees, getting so excited when the Canucks almost scored... All in all it was a great game. They went into OVERTIME and it could have been a long night, but then Burrows just took the puck behind the net, and juust managed to push it in around the other side of the net at 11 seconds into the overtime!!! Excitement :)!



GO CANUCKS GO! BRING HOME THE CUP!! :)

Ah, I now have Canucks fever. I'm not a big fan, but it's fun to follow. I guess I have always followed the Canucks these playoffs, but to be honest, this was the first game where I watched more than a period!

I also had ice wine for the first time ever. It was so sweet and tasty! Wine and hockey? My family is classy! ;)

I can't wait til I see everyone again at my cousin's wedding next year-ish? I have only ever been to one wedding before, and I was too young to remember very much. I have had a bit of a wedding craze as of lately, reading wedding blogs, looking at wedding photos etc online. I can't wait for people to get married! Ahhhhh, weddings!

Family times are fun times.